This season, Vinny Nicastro, 24, started work - professionally setting up holiday lights and decorations - in early November, with a client list of over 150 residences and businesses on the Island, in Brooklyn and New Jersey. This home is on Todt Hill.
(Photo Courtesy of Vinny Nicastro)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - EMERSON HILL - Growing up in the Bensonhurst section of Brookyn, Vinny Nicastro helped his father install elaborate Christmas decorations on the family's detached house and grounds, with "Santa Claus and a sled on the roof, and soldiers going up the steps," he recalled.

The family moved to Staten Island when he was 12-years-old, and the holiday display at their Emerson Hill home "got bigger every year. We went crazy with everything," he said.

At 14, and a freshman at Moore Catholic High School, the enterprising Nicastro decided to start his own Christmas-decorating service. He ordered about 10,000 flyers, for inclusion in North and South shore sections of the Advance, offering to install and remove holiday lights, and provide prospective customers with free estimates.

"I got a lot of calls, and did 15 to 20 houses this first year, from small to big ones," he said. "My parents drove me from job to job, and a couple of friends worked for me," he said.

Through word of mouth and continued advertising, the fledgling business grew steadily. This season, Nicastro, 24, started work in early November, with a client list of over 150 residences and businesses on the Island, in Brooklyn and New Jersey. In addition to exterior work, he provides custom interior lighting and decoration, including installation of Christmas trees, and decoration of everything from mantles to entire rooms.

"This will be the best year ever for me, despite the economy," he said last week. "People are still spending on decorations. I finished more installations before Thanksgiving this year, than I did in all of last year."

New clients include Z-One Restaurant, Diner and Lounge on Richmond Avenue in Bulls Head, and Z-Two, opened earlier this year, on Veterans Road West in Charleston.

CUSTOM WORK

Every job is unique, although most clients "like it elegant and simple," Nicastro noted. He works with both fresh and artificial garlands and wreaths, and, for other decorations, "we will use what customers have, or will supply what they want," he added.

His largest job to date was "a huge home in Annadale, with 100,000 lights – we used 1,000 sets," he said. "It was over the top," with the lighting on bushes and trees, and every tree branch carefully wrapped. The lawn displayed deer, angels, and sleds. The client's older, artificial wreaths "were so heavy we almost couldn't carry them up the ladder," Nicastro recalled. A crew of five worked for two full days to complete the work.

Most of his customers are young – "they don't want to go on roofs." Nicastro's longest ladder is a fiberglass 32-footer. "It reaches everything, and doesn't conduct electricity."

"Vinny gave me ideas on what to do, and does a great job, very thorough," said Sal Mancuso of Bulls Head, a satisfied customer for five years.

Donna Russo, who owns a hilltop home in Dongan Hills, agreed. "Vinny does a very nice job. I knew what I wanted, but he made suggestions about colors and other things," she said. Her decorations are already installed on shrubs, doors, and banisters, and she turned the lights on "when the Christmas tree (was) lit in Rockefeller Center."

"He's great," said Nick, another Dongan Hills homeowner who did not want to give his last name. "He shows up, and everything looks fantastic, and makes Christmas that much more special."

TIPS FROM THE EXPERT

Nicastro recommends light-emitting diodes (L.E.D.) for installations. "They burn less electricity – only 9.6 watts for every 100-light string, and they last longer, over 25,000 hours," he explained. "You can also plug 21 sets into each other, rather than four." Another advantage is that L.E.D. bulbs emanate "bright white, not yellowish" light.